NEW YORK CITY-Leaders of non-traded REITs are facing their share of challenges in this difficult environment, but they are also optimistic about the opportunities that may arise. During a featured session on day one of the Information Management Network’s seventh annual New York Non-Traded REIT Industry Symposium, held Thursday and Friday at the Marriott New York Downtown, senior executives from non-traded REIT sponsors shared how they are adapting and responding to current market conditions.

Moderated by Rosemarie A. Thurston, a partner with Alston & Bird LLP, the “CEO Panel: How to Survive and Thrive as a Non-Traded REIT Amid New Competition and the Distressed Real Estate Environment,” featured Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and CEO of American Realty Capital; Scott D. Peters, chairman, president and CEO of Healthcare Trust of America; Dwight L. Merriman, CEO of Industrial Income Trust, a REIT sponsored by a Dividend Capital affiliate; Brenda Gujral, president and CEO of Inland Real Estate Investment Corp.; and Mark Goldberg, president of Carey Financial LLC, the broker-dealer subsidiary of W.P. Carey & Co.

Given the slow transaction environment and the limited acquisition opportunities in the market, the CEOs shared how their firms are putting their firm’s income to work. Though it has been challenging, Gujral added that it’s “a great time to buy. We’re lucky in that most of the deals are coming to us directly through sellers, not broker-dealers.”